The coat of arms of the city of Mainz shows two six-spoked silver wheels connected by a cross on a red round shield.

According to a popular interpretation, Archbishop Willigis (975-1011), allegedly the son of a wagon maker, adopted the wheel in defiance of the nobility's mockery of his humble origins.

An archaeological hypothesis sees the coat of arms wheel as the successor to the sun wheel of the Celtic god Mogon, who was the namesake of the Roman Mogontiacum.

The Christian interpretation sees the wheel as a development from the Christ monogram in Greek, referring to wheel motifs on coins from the Mainz archbishopric (10th to 13th century).

The single silver wheel with five to eight spokes on a red background had been the coat of arms of the Archbishopric and Electorate of Mainz since the 13th century. The wheel was doubled for the city. In the 14th century, the wheels connected by a cross were still vertical. The double wheel remained in use until the end of the Electorate in 1792, and in 1811 it was adorned with Napoleonic symbols. It then underwent various transitional forms until Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse re-awarded it to the city in 1915 in the form it had taken from the 16th to the 18th century.

Please note: The symbols are state emblems or registered trademarks. They may only be used by offices and departments of the state capital of Mainz.